Pelleting machine



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July 24, 1962 Filed Aug. 22, 1960 E. s. KENNEDY PELLETING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Emerson S Kennedy Buckhorn, Cheafham 8 Blore ATTORNEYS July 24, 1962 Filed Aug. 22, 1960 E. S. KENNEDY PELLETING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Emerson 5 Kennedy Buckhorn, Cheafham 8 Blore ATTORNEYS July 24, 1962 E. s. KENNEDY 3,045,613

PELLETING MACHINE Filed Aug 22, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 5

INVENTOR.

100 Emerson 3 Kennedy Buckhorn, Cheafham 8| Blore ATTORNEYS E. S. KENNEDY PELLETING MACHINE July 24, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 22, 1960 Fig. 9

m m m Emerson 3 Kennedy Buckhorn, Chemham 8| Blore ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,045,613 PELLETIN G MACHINE Emerson S. Kennedy, Roseburg, 0reg., assignor to K.C.G. Corporation, a corporation of California Filed Aug. 22, 1960, Ser. No. 51,143 1 Claim. (Cl. 107-14) The present invention relates to a machine for compacting and forming pellets of compactible materials such as hay, meal and other materials utilized in making animal feeds.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved pelleting machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pelleting machine utilizing a perforated ring through which materials to be pelleted are forced by sliding shoes in contact with the ring.

Another object is to provide new and improved means for adjustably mounting shoes such as mentioned above on pelleting machine.

Still other objects and advantages will become more apparent hereinafter.

For a more complete description of the invention reference is made to the accompanying drawings and to the following detailed description of the illustrated embodiment.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of a pelleting machine made in accordance with 'the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a view looking in the direction of the arrows 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 99 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line 1010 of FIG. 1;

Referring now more particularly to "FIG. 1, suitable means are provided for feeding the pelleting apparatus and which may comprise a hopper 20 from which the materials are fed to a mixer 22 which may be provided with paddles 24 or other suitable means for mixing the various ingredients. Paddles 24 are shown as mounted upon a shaft 26 driven by a motor 27.

Means are provided to feed the material from the mixer 22 to the pelleting apparatus. In the illustrated embodiment the bottom wall 28 of the mixing chamber is provided with openings 30. A sliding plate 32 having openings 34 may be provided to enable adjustment of the size of the openings through which the feed may pass from the mixer. Screw adjustment means 36 or other suitable means may be provided for adjusting the position of the plate 34.

The hopper 20 and mixer 22 are mounted above a cylindrical housing and frame 40 having a bed plate 41 upon which is supported a die ring member 42 having a plurality of orifices 44, see FIG. 7, extending from its inner face 46 to its outer face 48. The die ring preferably is fixedly mounted to the plate 41 by suitable means such as bolts 50. Impacting means are provided for pressing material through the orifices 44 from the inside "ice of the ring 42 to the outside thereof. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention such impacter means comprises a hub 56 which is fixed to the shaft 26 by a key 58 or other suitable means. The hub 56 is provided with four radial slots 60 which are adapted to receive the leg portions 62 of impacting members 64, each of which comprises a shoe portion 66. As is evident in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, each of the shoe portions comprises a heel part 68 which is adapted to engage the inner surface 46 of the ring 42 and a toe part 70 which is spaced inwardly of the inner ring surface 46.

Means are provided for forcing the shoes 66 into engagement with the inner ring surface 46. Referring to FIG. 9 such means comprise wedges 72 interposed between the terminal end of each of the leg portions 62 and the inner end of the corresponding slot 60. Each slot end and opposing wedge face is preferably parallel to the axis of the shaft 26 While the opposite face of the wedge 72 extends obliquely with respect to the axis of the shaft, the adjacent end of the leg portion being formed with a complementary face 76 so that by movement of a wedge 72 in a direction parallel to the shaft axis the position of a shoe portion relative to the ring may be adjusted.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 4, mounted on the shaft 26 above the hub 56 and keyed thereto by the key 58 is a shoe holding member 80 having a plurality of radial arms 82 which extend one above each of the leg portions of the compacting members 64.

Extending downwardly through each of the arms 82 is an adjustment screw 84 which is threaded into the corresponding wedge 72 so that by rotation of the screw the vertical position of the wedge can be adjusted. Suitable lock nuts 86 cooperatively arranged with the screws 84 and the arm 82 are provided to maintain the screws in fixed vertical position.

Each of the arms 82 is also provided with a radial slot 88 through which extends a bolt 90 which may be tightened to clamp the corresponding shoe rigidly to the arm 82 after its position has been adjusted by means of the wedge 72. A nut 92 may be provided on the shaft 26 to lock the member 80 and hub 56 thereon.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 7 and 8, mounted on the shaft 26 above the nut 92 is a knife means comprising a hub portion 96 from which extends a plurality of arms 98 carrying on their outer end knives 100 adapted to scrape the outer surface 48 of the ring member 42 so as to cut off the material extruded outwardly through the orifices 44. Material severed by the knives 100 is carried on the frame plane 41 to a discharge chute 102 through which it can be delivered to any suitable receiving receptacle.

The operation of the apparatus will be more or less obvious. As will be apparent, material to be pelletized is fed into the hopper 20 from which is passes into the mixer 22 to be thoroughly mixed by the blades 24. The material then passes through the openings 34--30 to fall into the ring portion 42. As the shoes 66 rotate in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 5, the toe portion of each will engage the material to be compacted and move it toward the inner surface of the ring 42 until finally it will be forced into the orifices 44 by the approaching heel portion 68 of the shoe. Each of the shoe portions is followed by a knife 100 to cut off the material extruded through the orifices 44 so as to form pellets thereof. The pressure and heat arising from the compacting operation will exert a bonding effect upon the material so that it Will remain in compacted condition. As the shoes become worn or otherwise lose their frictional engagement with the inner surface of the ring 42 they may be adjusted by loosening the bolts 90 and repositioning the wedges by means of the screws 84 to force the shoes into firm engagement with the ring. Thereafter the bolts 90 may be tightened to secure the shoes in position.

Having illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of the invention it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention permits of modification in arrangement and detail. I claim as my invention all such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A pelleting machine comprising a horizontally disposed die ring having a plurality of material molding orifices extending through said ring from its inner face to its outer face, a shaft mounted concentrically of said ring, a hub fixed to said shaft, said hub having a plurality of radial slots therein, a plurality of impacting members for pressing material through said orifices, said members each comprising a shoe portion for engaging the said inner face of said ring, and a leg portion, said leg portions being received one in each of said slots, wedge means adjustably interposed between the terminal end of each of said leg portions and the inner end of the corresponding slot, each of said member leg portions having a wedge engaging face extending obliquely with respect to the axis of said shaft and diverging from said shaft in the upward direction, each of said wedges having a complementary face so that by movement of said wedges in a direction parallel to said axis the position of said shoe portion relative to said ring may be adjusted, a plurality of arms extending from said shaft one above each of said wedges and adjacent leg portions, a plurality of threaded adjustment means extending one through each of said arms and into the wedge beneath the same for adjusting the position of said wedge, means fixing said adjustment means against vertical movement relative to said arms, said adjustment means being threadedly received in said wedges whereby rotation of said adjustment means effects corresponding movement of said wedges parallel to said axis, releasable means for fixedly clamping said impacting members to said arms to secure the latter in a fixed position relative to said shaft, knife means supported on said shaft for engaging the outer face of said ring to cut off material extruded therethrough, and means for driving said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,160,302 Billows May 30, 1939 2,647,474 Popic Aug. 4, 1953 2,782,736 Johnson Feb. 26, 1957 low 

